Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Buffalo, NY
NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 1988, 2:50 PM EDT for Cattaraugus County, Chautauqua County, New York. It was in force for 60 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 16, 1988, 2:50 PM EDT (18:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 16, 1988, 3:50 PM EDT
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Buffalo, NY
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cattaraugus County, NY, Chautauqua County, NY
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 3:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Chautauqua, NY | |
| Jul 16, 3:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Cattaraugus, NY |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 78 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 17 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -395 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1194 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 75 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 155 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KBUF 161853
SVRBUF
NYC013-009-161950-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
250 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 350 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
WESTERN NEW YORK
...CHAUTAUQUA...CATTARAUGUS
AT 250 PM...BUFFALO WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVER THUNDERSTORM
OVER CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY NEAR NJAMESTOWM. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS
MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
BE ON THE ALERT FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANIED BY FREQUENT
LIGHTNING...STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. LOCALLY HEAVY
RAIN MAY ALSO CAUSE DRAINAGE FLOODING.
DCBWhat forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 16, 2:41 PM EDT, 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 235 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 296 IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN NEW YORK AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS AND PARTS OF CENTRAL NEW YORK AND NORTHWESTERN AND NORTHCENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA TIL 10 PM EDT... AT 235 PM EDT BUFFALO WEATHER RADAR DETECTED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM JUST SOUTH OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY NEW YORK INTO NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA NEAR COORY AND UNION CITY TO SOUTH OF ERIE. A THUNDERSTORM WAS ASLO JUST SOUTH OF LITTLE VALLEY IN CATTARAUGUS COUNTY. A STONG THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER JAMESTOWN NEW YORK. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO OVER SOUTHERN ONTARIO NEAR LONDON. SOME OF THESE STORMS CAN HAVE VERY= HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING ...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY HAIL. THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE EAST AT 35 MPH. BE ON THE ALERT FOR SUDDEN DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. REICH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Buffalo, NY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 4:32 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Erie | 88 min |
| Jul 16, 5:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Chautauqua | 63 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.